Son of a book­keep­er and French teach­er, Spit­ta was orig­in­al­ly ap­pren­ticed to a watch­mak­er. He dis­liked the oc­cu­pa­tion, though, and went to the Un­i­ver­si­ty of Göt­ting­en to stu­dy the­ol­o­gy. He was or­dained in 1828 and be­came an as­sist­ant pas­tor near Hoya. In 1830, he be­came as­sist­ant chap­lain to the gar­ri­son and the pri­son at Ham­meln on the We­ser Riv­er. He would have be­come the perm­a­nent chap­lain, ex­cept for re­ports the mil­i­tary au­thor­i­ties re­ceived de­scrib­ing him as a Pi­et­ist and a Mys­tic. As com­pen­sa­tion, he was made pas­tor at Wech­old, near Hoya, in 1837. In 1847, he be­came Lu­ther­an super­in­ten­dent at Wit­ting­en, at Peine in 1853, and at Burg­dorf in 1859.

Sources

Hymns

1. O hoch­be­glückte Seele
   • How Blessed, from the Bonds of Sin
   • Man Is Highly Blessed, The
   • O Highly Blessed Servant
   • O Soul, How Blest
   • Thrice Happy He Who Serveth
2. O selig Haus
   • O Happy Home
3. Wir sind des Herrn, wir leben oder sterben
   • We Are the Lord’s